Fans of director Francis Ford Coppola's classic The Godfather Trilogy will soon be able to view the film in a new way. Paramount Pictures has released a new trailer for the upcoming 4K Ultra HD release of the trilogy on March 22.
The trailer begins with a graphic that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the release of the first film. As the graphic is shown, classic lines are played, such as Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) saying "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," and Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) saying "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." The trailer then shows a montage of action scenes from throughout the trilogy. It then focuses on each film in the trilogy. When focusing on the original 1972 film, it shows clips of the family together at Connie Corleone's wedding, Michael with his first wife Apollonia, and Vito telling Michael that he wanted a different life for his son. When focusing on The Godfather Part II, it shows Michael telling Fredo he knows his brother betrayed him, and a young Vito arriving in America from Sicily. The trailer also focuses on The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, a recut of the 1990 third film that was done in 2020, showing a montage of clips from the film. It then shows Michael giving the order to have his enemies killed. The trailer then concludes with clips of Michael with his daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola), Michael with his siblings at his parents' house, and Vito at his office.
The upcoming release will be the first time that the films are released together with HDR-10 on 4K Ultra HD Digital and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. The restoration of the films took three years to complete, and were done under the direction of Coppola. "I am very proud of The Godfather, which certainly defined the first third of my creative life," said Coppola. "With this 50th anniversary tribute, I'm especially proud Mario Puzo's The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone is included, as it captures [screenwriter] Mario [Puzo] and my original vision in definitively concluding our epic trilogy. It's also gratifying to celebrate this milestone with Paramount alongside the wonderful fans who've loved it for decades, younger generations who still find it relevant today, and those who will discover it for the first time."
The trilogy will also be released as a 4K Ultra HD Limited Collector's Edition. The Collector's Edition will include a hardcover coffee table book which features photographs and portrait art prints. Both disc sets will include new bonus content, legacy bonus content, legacy commentaries by Coppola, and digital copies of all three films. The restored versions of the films will also be available together on Blu-ray. A full list of the bonus content can be read below:
New Bonus Content:
- Introduction to The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola
- Full Circle: Preserving The Godfather
- Capturing the Corleones: Through the Lens of Photographer Steve Schapir
- The Godfather: Home Movies
- Restoration Comparisons
Legacy Bonus Content:
- The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't
- Godfather World
- Emulsional Rescue - Revealing The Godfather
- ...when the shooting stopped
- The Godfather on the Red Carpet
-
Four Short Films on The Godfather:
- The Godfather vs. The Godfather: Part II
- Cannoli
- Riffing on the Riffing
- Clemenza
- The Family Tree
- Crime Organization Chart
- Connie and Carlo's Wedding Album
- 2008 Credits
-
Behind the Scenes:
- A Look Inside
- On Location
- Francis Ford Coppola's Notebook
-
Music of The Godfather
- Nino Rot
- Carmine Coppola
- Coppola & Puzo on Screenwriting
- Gordon Willis on Cinematography
- Storyboard - The Godfather Part II
- Storyboards - The Godfather Part III
- The Godfather Behind the Scenes 1971
- Additional Scenes
- Galleries
- Trailers
- Acclaim & Response
- Additional Material
- The Filmmakers
- The Godfather: Part III - newly remastered and restored versions of the original cut and Coppola's 1991 cut (exclusive to the 4K Ultra HD Collections)
The Godfather Trilogy will be released on 4K Ultra HD on March 22. The new trailer can be viewed below: